March 31st, 1888 — Padmore Park
Finnian Byrne

Hope was immensely enjoying her Easter holiday thus far. Her family had hosted their own private little egg hunt and now they had scattered about to look for the eggs hidden around Hogsmeade. The petite blonde had not had any luck so far, her little basket terribly empty as she walked down the path in Padmore Park. Her chaperon was settled on a bench nearby and Hope honestly kept forgetting the maid was even there.

Finally spotting a pretty pink egg, she moved to pick it up. A look of disappointment colored her features as the egg just broke and left a yellow mess of yolk in her hands. It made her feel terribly sad and disappointed as she used her clean hand to try to find her handkerchief, only to find herself being offered one by a gentleman. "Oh, thank you," Hope said in gratitude as she accepted the help.

  

Finnian was Irish and lived in Irleand, which meant Hogsmeade was only visited when there was a reason to visit. Luckily, Bree's attempts at hurling Finnian were very stellar reasons to be in Hogsmeade, on top of the Easter festivities that were going on. He'd been chatting with a stranger about quidditch until the other gentleman very rudely announced that he had no intention to continue the conversation; maybe Finnian's comment about Kenmare being the obviously superior team (despite the results of the pro quidditch league cup) was a bit offensive.

Nevertheless, he'd continued on his day without as much as a second thought to the conversation, and eventually ended up wandering into Padmore Park. He continued walking until he stumbled upon a very pretty (though perhaps a little young) girl with egg all over her hand. How odd; there didn't seem to be any chickens or chicken coops around. He approached her and offered up his handkerchief with a smile, prompting her to thank him.

"'Tis only the polite thing to do, my lady," he responded in an exaggerated, subtlety flirtatious tone. She had very pretty eyes, and her hair was so blonde — he wondered if it was naturally like that, or if some freak magical accident had made it so fair. "I don't suppose you regularly carry around eggs?" More teasing.

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   Hope St.John-Black

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Hope couldn't help a girlish giggle at the mans words and tone, subtle as it was. "Oh, of course not," Hope chuckled when he asked if she carried eggs around, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "There's eggs hidden all about Hogsmeade. Some turn into things but I found one of the duds," Hope said, unable to help a playful sort of pout. He was particularly handsome and charming, in her opinion, and Hope was not immune to being attracted to such men.

  

Finnian was by no means as susceptible to falling for pretty faces as Lorcan was, but even he couldn't avoid flirting with women when the woman in question had no issue returning his playful jests. She did seem wealthier than him, though, so he supposed he should pay attention to the way and manner in which he addressed her. The last thing he wanted was to cause gossip by being too forward and risking her reacting similarly — young ladies, from his experienced, were almost always silly ladies. Still, he would at leas continue being his charming self.

"I can't believe the heavens would have forsaken you like that," he teased. "They should know it's rude to treat a young lady like yourself with such disrespect!" At least he could thank the heavens for giving him something to do — or rather, someone to speak with — that morning.

  

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Hope couldn't help but to laugh at his silly words. "Well, they have," she said, more than happy to play along a little while. If anything, there was no harm in making innocent acquaintance of a handsome gent, right? "Will you come to my rescue and help me find another Easter egg?" As it was, she was determined to find herself an egg that would have something fun within its enchantments.

  

With a cheeky smile, Finnian's gaze fell the the ground below them. Of course there was nothing there, but he wanted to make a show out of it. There was no fun in flirting if they couldn't laugh, and Finnian was determined to make the blonde giggle at any time possible... at least without drawing too much attention from anyone who walked by.

That might be bad and lead to rumors like Lorcan had dealt with.

"I would be glad to, my lady," he teased, motioning with his arm for her to walk ahead of him before adding: "After you, Miss....?" If they were going to run around the park and go egg-chasing, he might as well know her name!

  

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Hope was finding the man to be very charmingly silly. She couldn’t help the giggle that slipped past her lips. She did as he indicated for her to do and smiled back at him when he prompted her for her name. It would have been rather fun to not learn one anothers names at all, she personally thought. At least, for a first meeting. There was something dreadfully romantic about that concept. “I’m Miss Hope Crawford. And you are? Sir Lancelot, I assume.”

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   Bella Scrimgeour

The goofy smile not fading from his face, Finnian continued on. "That's exactly what they call me at home. My given name, however, is Finnian. Finnian Byrne," he responded with a wink. "And Miss Crawford—I'm hopeful I'll have the opportunity to get to know you better."

  

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Hope outright laughed when the man said that he was called Lancelot at home before giving her his actual name. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Byrne," Hope stated with a smile. "And I would like that very much though I wish I could think of a pun to use with your name as well. Maybe, I dread when we will have to finish this conversation?" That was terrible but Hope didn't have it in her to really care.

  

Finnian gave a good-natured laugh and scrunch of his nose. "That was bad—very, very bad," he teased. "But don't worry, I'll teach you how to be punny—shouldn't take very long. Not with the master of punintentional humor here," he added with a wink. Ugh, she was so pretty, even if her jokes were awful.

  

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Hope chuckled in response to Mr. Byrnes teasing, more than amenable to his attentions.
"Oh will you?" Hope asked playfully. "How valiant of you."

  

Finnian bowed his head once more. "Of course. I wouldn't dare break a promise to such a pretty face; I would regret it for the rest of my existence!" he proclaimed dramatically.

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Hope chuckled at the mans over the top words. He was just her type, she decided though she really wasn't sure what that was. Handsome, funny, didn't take himself seriously? Whatever that type was, she enjoyed it. She had almost forgotten that they had intended to find her another Easter egg and she was more than happy to do so in the company of the charming gentleman.